Comments: SC Johnson continues to raise the bar, make that curtain, on product ingredient transparency. In April, the privately-held company—ironic, isn’t it?—released its 26th annual Sustainability Report, The Science Inside, which shares publicly the criteria inside the company’s Greenlist ingredient selection program, which helps the company continually improve its products by choosing ingredients to better protect human health and the environment. According to SCJ, people can now see, in detail, the care that goes into choosing each of the ingredients that are used in SC Johnson products.

“We know consumers today are more interested than ever in the products they bring into their homes,” said Fisk Johnson, chairman and CEO of SC Johnson. “What matters most is the trust consumers place in our company and that they count on our products to be effective and safe. We believe it’s our responsibility to give people the facts so they can make informed choices, and we hope other companies will join us.”

SC Johnson maintains that its Greenlist program has guided the company’s product development for nearly two decades. Every ingredient in every SC Johnson product goes through the Greenlist program, which is centered around a peer-reviewed, four-step evaluation of its potential impact on human health and the environment.

More recently, in 2009, SC Johnson launched WhatsInsideSCJohnson.com and last year, the program expanded to Asia. A year ago, SC Johnson expanded the WhatsInsideSCJohnson.com by disclosing 368 skin allergens that may be present in its products. The site now lists allergens on a product-specific basis. This move goes beyond regulations in the European Union and also in the US, where there are no rules requiring allergen transparency, according to the company. The WhatsInsideSCJohnson program now serves more than five billion consumers, providing access to a comprehensive list of ingredients for more than 5,300 products sold in 52 countries.

In other sustainable moves, in the past year, SC Johnson reached zero manufacturing waste to landfill status at more than 65% of its manufacturing facilities. This puts the company ahead of schedule in meeting its goal to send zero manufacturing waste to landfill from its factories by 2021.

SC Johnson also has set an aggressive goal of further reducing its greenhouse gas emissions 15% by 2020 from the base set in 2015. This could result in a reduction of more than 15,000 metric tons of emissions over five years. Since 2000, SC Johnson has realized a 55% reduction in greenhouse gases, indexed to production. And for the past 13 years, SC Johnson has used renewable energy sources around the world to power its facilities. Through fiscal 2017, 35% of the company’s energy use came from renewable sources.

To promote these and other efforts, earlier this year, SC Johnson unveiled a new tagline: “A Family Company at Work for a Better World.” It replaces “A Family Company,” which was in place since 1998.

“SC Johnson has a long legacy as a family company committed to doing what’s right, for our consumers, communities and the environment,” said Fisk Johnson, chairman and CEO of SC Johnson. “This is something we have been doing for generations, and we want people to know more about the many ways we are at work for a better world.”

Fisk Johnson is the fifth-generation family leader of the global consumer products company, which has been headquartered in Racine, WI for 132 years.

Feel-good news is great, but there’s been some sobering news out of Racine as well. In March, SC Johnson said it would eliminate 300-400 positions due to organizational changes. SCJ employs about 13,000 worldwide. Also in March, Imogene Powers Johnson, mother of Chairman and CEO Fisk Johnson, died at 87. Her husband, Sam Curtis Johnson Jr., passed in 2004.

Cookies help us to provide you with an excellent service. By using our website, you declare yourself in agreement with our use of cookies. You can obtain detailed information about the use of cookies on our website by clicking on "More information”.